Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/156

NALKE and have to be propitiated by offerings, which often involve the shedding of blood, that of a fowl being most common. There are also family Bhūtas, and in every non-Brāhman house a room, or sometimes only a corner, is set apart for the Bhūta, and called the Bhūtakotya. The Bhūtasthānam is generally a small, plain structure, 4 or 5 yards deep by 2 or 3 yards wide, with a door at one end covered by a portico supported on two pillars. The roof is of thatch, and the building is without windows. In front of it there are usually three or four T-shaped pillars. Flowers are placed, and cocoanuts broken on them at ceremonies. The temples of the more popular Bhūtas are often substantial buildings of considerable size. Inside the Bhūtasthānam there are usually a number of images, roughly made in brass, in human shape, or resembling animals, such as pigs, tigers, fowls, etc. These are brought out and worshipped as symbols of the Bhūtas on various ceremonial occasions.* A peculiar small goglet or vase, made of bell-metal, into which from time to time water is poured, is kept before the Bhūtas, and, on special occasions, kepula (Ixora coccinea) flowers, and lights are placed before them. In the larger sthānas a sword is always kept near the Bhūta, to be held by the officiating priest when he stands possessed and trembling with excitement before the people assembled for worship, † A bell or gong is also found in all Bhūtasthānams. In the case of Bhūtas connected with temples, there is a place set apart for them, called a gudi. The Bhūtasthānam of the Baiderlu is called a garudi.

"The names of the Bhūtas are legion. One of the most dreaded is named Kalkuti. Two others commonly